The ban-the-box initiative is sweeping across the country. Most recently in California the Governor signed a new law banning government employers from asking criminal history questions on their job application. However, later in the hiring process they are allowed to perform criminal background checks. Also, recently the State of Minnesota expanded their existing ban-the-box law to now cover private employers as well. This includes Minneapolis based Target Corporation who upon learning about the new law went ahead and removed criminal history questions from their job applications all across the country. In addition the State of New Jersey is now considering ban-the-box legislation but has met opposition from the State Chamber of Commerce.
The use of criminal history checks in the pre-employment screening and employment screening process is the heart of the ban-the-box initiative. The difficult aspect of this issue is that many of the States that have enacted such laws vary significantly from each other leaving no conformity. Without consistent background screening standards and lack of uniformity a great deal of confusion has arisen in the marketplace. This is most especially true for employers that operate in multiple States. This is why it is a good idea for employers and government entities to partner with a professional third party employment screening company to help stay compliant with new and existing laws. Like wild fire the ban-the-box initiative is spreading rapidly from State to State and will continue to do so in the near future. To learn more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-11-15-Ban-The-Box-Comes-to-California.html